page_title: Semi-trailer truck
section_title: North America
hierarchical_section_title: Semi-trailer truck / Regional configurations / North America
caption_attribution_description: Cropped version of Roadtrain.jpg
context_page_description: A semi-tractor-trailer truck is the combination of a tractor unit and one, or more, semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called a fifth-wheel.
  It is variously known as a transport truck, semi-trailer truck, tractor-trailer truck, semi-tractor truck, semi-truck, trailer truck, tractor truck, transfer truck, articulated truck, artic, single truck, semi-tractor-trailer, semi-trailer, tractor-trailer, semi-tractor, semi, trailer, tractor, big rig, eighteen-wheeler and articulated lorry, depending on the country.
context_section_description: In North America, the combination vehicles made up of a powered semi-tractor and one or more semitrailers are known as "semis", "semitrailers", "tractor-trailers", "big rigs", "semi-trucks", "eighteen-wheelers" or "semi-tractor-trailers".
  The tractor unit typically has two or three axles; those built for hauling heavy-duty commercial-construction machinery may have as many as five, some often being lift axles.
  The most common tractor-cab layout has a forward engine, one steering axle, and two drive axles. The fifth-wheel trailer coupling on most tractor trucks is movable fore and aft, to allow adjustment in the weight distribution over its rear axle(s).
  Ubiquitous in Europe, but less common in North America since the 1990s, is the cabover engine configuration, where the driver sits next to, or over the engine. With changes in the US to the maximum length of the combined vehicle, the cabover was largely phased out of North American over-the-road (long-haul) service by 2007. Cabovers were difficult to service; for a long time the cab could not be lifted on its hinges to a full 90-degree forward tilt, severely limiting access to the front part of the engine.
  As of 2016, a truck could cost US$100,000, while the diesel fuel cost could be $70,000 per year. Trucks average from 4 to 8 miles per US gallon (59 to 29 L/100 km), with fuel economy standards requiring better than 7 miles per US gallon (34 L/100 km) efficiency by 2014. Power requirements in standard conditions are 170 hp at 55 mph (89 km/h) or 280 hp at 70 mph (113 km/h), and somewhat different power usage in other conditions.
  The cargo trailer usually has tandem axles at the rear, each of which has dual wheels, or eight tires on the trailer, four per axle. In the US it is common to refer to the number of wheel hubs, rather than the number of tires; an axle can have either single or dual tires with no legal difference. The combination of eight tires on the trailer and ten tires on the tractor is what led to the moniker eighteen wheeler, although this term is considered by some truckers to be a misnomer (the term "eighteen-wheeler" is a nickname for a five-axle over-the-road combination). Many trailers are equipped with movable tandem axles to allow adjusting the weight distribution.
  To connect the second of a set of doubles to the first trailer, and to support the front half of the second trailer, a converter gear known as a "dolly" is used. This has one or two axles, a fifth-wheel coupling for the rear trailer, and a tongue with a ring-hitch coupling for the forward trailer. Individual states may further allow longer vehicles, known as "longer combination vehicles" (or LCVs), and may allow them to operate on roads other than Interstates.
  Long combination vehicle types include:
  Doubles (officially "STAA doubles", known colloquially as "a set of joints"): Two 28.5 ft (8.7 m) trailers.
  B-Doubles: Twin 33 ft (10.1 m) trailers in B-double configuration (very common in Canada but rarely used in the United States).
  Triples: Three 28.5 ft (8.7 m) trailers.
  Turnpike Doubles: Two 48 ft (14.6 m) trailers.
  Rocky Mountain Doubles: One 40 to 53 ft (12.2 to 16.2 m) trailer (though usually no more than 48 ft (14.6 m)) and one 28.5 ft (8.7 m) trailer (known as a "pup").
  In Canada, a Turnpike Double is two 53 ft (16.2 m) trailers, and a Rocky Mountain Double is a 50 ft (15.2 m) trailer with a 24 ft (7.3 m) "pup". 
  Future long combination vehicles under consideration and study for the US MAP-21 transportation bill are container doubles. These combinations are under study for potential recommendation in November 2014:
  40 ft (12 m) trailer Turnpike Doubles, 148,000 lb (67,000 kg) GVWR
  40 ft (12 m) and 20 ft (6.1 m) trailer Rocky Mountain Doubles, 134,000 lb (61,000 kg) GVWR
  Double 20 ft (6.1 m) trailers.
  The US federal government, which only regulates the Interstate Highway System, does not set maximum length requirements (except on auto and boat transporters), only minimums. Tractors can pull two or three trailers if the combination is legal in that state. Weight maximums are 20,000 lb (
caption: Rocky Mountain Double
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